Orange City, Iowa — A Sioux Center man is behind bars after he allegedly assaulted a nurse and a law officer at the Orange City hospital with a medical device.
According to the Orange City Police Department, 41-year-old Jared Isaac Andersen is charged with Second-Degree Criminal Mischief and two counts of Assault on Persons in Certain Occupations, (all class D felonies); as well as a misdemeanor charge of Interference with Official Acts.
Officers tell us the charges stem from an incident in the early hours of Tuesday, November 1st, 2022, in which Andersen was receiving health care services at Orange City Area Health System, when he concealed a medical otoscope on his person. (An otoscope is a device used to examine the ears.) He then came at the nurse in an aggressive manner with the device, making contact with her shoulder. Officers say he claimed that the device was a firearm while concealing it and made aggressive movements toward law enforcement. They say he made statements that he had a firearm and that officers did not search him well enough.
Orange City officers also claim that in the officer’s attempt to gain control of Anderson, he refused to obey officers and assaulted them, causing injury to one of them. He also damaged two of the walls of the emergency room, a portable medical equipment device, and the otoscope, according to officers.
He was arrested and booked into the Sioux County Jail, where, at last report, he remained, without bond.
The Orange City Police Department tell us they were assisted by the Sioux Center Police Department and the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office.
If convicted of a class D felony, Anderson could face five years in prison. No court dates have yet been set in the case.
